Rainy Day Musing

Today is a rainy, spring day in New England.  Yes, I know – we get a lot of those.  But it’s these April showers that will bring up those May flowers, right?  I’m actually glad it is raining today.  My teenage daughter has a project she is working on for school.  Yes, it’s school vacation and she has a project – it kind of stinks.  I’ve been helping her slowly assemble it over the past couple of days.  We knew today would be the biggest day of effort simply because we have the most time today.  We’ve been doing well and just have another round of gluing to be done for the day.  Yay!  Here’s the thing though.  If it had been a beautiful, sunny and warm spring day we SO would have wanted to go outside.  It would have been misery working inside.  And there would have been no choice, we had to work on the project today.  So, I’m thankful for the rain.  As it turns out it is the perfect weather for constructing projects.  We don’t really feel as though we are missing out on anything.  Besides, who doesn’t like a rainy day once in a while.  It makes you feel all cozy inside your home.  I think I may even ask my husband to make a fire this evening.  It’s that raw chilly weather that makes a warm fire so inviting.  Pretty soon it will be too warm for fires (though I’ve been known to have one in the summer on a raw rainy day) as the warmer weather finally arrives.  And I am ready for it.  As a New Englander I love the seasons, and I always seem to be ready for the next one.  I am now.  I can picture wonderful sunny days relaxing on my deck in the sun.  I’m done with the cold for this year.  See me in the fall for that!

Life is a Series of Small Moments

I was thinking about life today.  It’s all the small moments that occur that create a life.  It’s not the big party – but that wonderful conversation you had with someone there.  It’s not that week-long vacation – it was eating sushi outside in the rain under a canopy.  It’s these small moments that we spend with friends and family or even friendly strangers (who maybe become friends) that make our lives worth living.  A shared laugh about a fleeting moment that you recall time and again.  A car ride that, while seemingly innocuous, becomes a fondly shared memory due to an incident or a conversation.  I’ll bet you have already had some “small” moments today that have added to your day.  I know I have.  My daughter and I went out to lunch.  It felt so nice have some warm soup together as the rain fell outside on a cool New England spring day.  Then we went to T.J.Maxx, which is nothing special.  On the other hand, we love to pull out what we feel are outrageous pieces of clothing and have a good laugh.  Or try on sun glasses and giggle at how each of us looks.  Sure, this may not be a day to remember, but it’s one of a collective memory of time spent that I’ve no doubt we will recall over time.  If you’ve had a small but enjoyable moment today, tell me about it in a comment.  I’d love to hear.  It’s what makes life worth living and gets each of us through our days.  Enjoy!

Fun in Boston Avoiding Marathon Crowds

My husband and I took our daughter and a friend into Boston today.  No big deal, right?!  Well, not really.  It is Patriots Day and Marathon Monday in Boston today.  This guarantees lots of people and cars.  Out first mistake was to just cruise onto the Mass Pike assuming we could sail into Boston.  Okay, no, not so fast.  We got stuck in some traffic, though it was not headed to Boston!  It was lined up to exit the Pike to get onto 128.  Whew!  We were headed to the Union Oyster House for an early lunch, before the onslaught that we assumed would happen starting at about noon.  We had a lovely lunch with all sorts of seafood.  My husband and I had oysters on the half shell and clam chowder.  YUM!  We took pictures like we were tourists which was such fun!  We checked out the Holocaust Memorial, took pictures with Michael Curley and cruised through Faneuil Hall.  From there we headed to the Museum of Science where we took in a movie at the Omni theater on Tornado Alley.  There was some amazing footage from close to or in tornadoes.  Anyway, throughout our adventure we had tons of laughs, took lots of pictures and had a great day.  Yay for friends and family.  There’s nothing like taking a day together to have some fun.

Is Good News Captivating?

 I was sitting here trying to think of something to blog about – because I haven’t posted here in a while.  This blog is supposed to be about the small things in life that provide moments of bliss.  So I ran through a bunch of things in my head that I could blog about – that are positive and upbeat.  And the thought crossed my mind – is that going to capture someones imagination and make them want to visit my blog?  And that led me to think about newspapers and the media.  We often lament that the news is devoted almost entirely to BAD news.  Shootings, wars, robberies, and corruption.  So the question is this – do they give us that because it is what we want?  I suppose it is what we want because we want to be informed of what is going on in the world and that IS what is going on.  Yes, there are human interest stories; stories of heroism and humor.  But those are the exceptions.  So as I pondered what to write I wondered if writing about the small moments in life, the good moments, is captivating?  And do I care because really, though I like people to come and visit, I am really writing because I want to – audience or not. And does every story, even those that are sad, have an element of good?  Can you reframe it to look at the upside?  For instance, the tragedy unfolding in Japan is heart breaking.  Truly.  But rather than focusing on the number of people missing and dead, why don’t we focus on those who managed to survive.  My cousin has an old friend who lives quite near to where the disaster occurred.  After some tense days he heard from his friend.  The friend’s family and Mother survived though they were in different towns.  The friend had left his family to stay with his elderly Mother and care for her during this crisis.  All of this is wonderful news in the midst of terrible tragedy.  I suppose, in the end, any story can be captivating if told well.  Besides – it’s all in the name of the post, right?!

Cold Feet in New England

What a day today!  First we got freezing rain – always the most interesting form of winter precipitation.  From there it went to just rain.  Oh wait, did I say “just” rain?  Correction.  It rained cats and dogs.  Add to that lots of fog and you have quite the lovely day for an excursion.  Which I, of course, needed to make.  I was dropping off some of my art for an exhibit at a restaurant.  I have to say, the highway driving was sooooo much fun.  Puddles, aforementioned fog, mist thrown up from all of the cars.  Perfect.  But you’re wondering about my cold feet.  Well, they have nothing to do with marriage or relationships.  I got to the restaurant and dropped of my art.  Navigating the sidewalks was more treacherous than the roads as they were very icy.  Returning to my car I stepped into a large puddle as I entered the cross walk.  It couldn’t be avoided.  This should not have been a problem as I had rain boots on.  Except that the minute my foot was immersed an icy cold tide came rushing into my boot.  It was not the best time to find that my rain boot had cracked.  I tell you that water was COLD!  Anyway, I made my way back to my warm and cozy home, changed out of my soggy socks, and put on some really snuggly clothes.  Ah, bliss.  Bliss was returning home and watching the weather from the comfort of my study.  As for the leaky boots – merely a fashion statement at this point.  No longer weather worthy.

Perks of Rising Early

Okay, so how many people like to get up before the crack of dawn?  I know there are morning people out there who do it regularly and really enjoy it.  My guess is, though, that far more people would like to sleep in until what they consider a reasonable hour.  I am up every day at 5:30 during the school year.  It used to be that I had the house to myself until 7:00.  I used to shuffle to my study and write, stream of consciousness for 30 minutes, to start my day.  Then I would exercise until waking my daughter.  When my daughter got to high school this all changed.  Now I rise at 5:30 and wake her up as well.  I make her breakfast and then exercise for 30 minutes until I have to help her get out the door.  While I wouldn’t call myself a true “morning” person I think there are perks to rising early.  For starters, I absolutely love getting my exercise done first thing in the morning.  When I get onto my bike, on the track stand, I am not yet fully awake.  But you see, that works to my advantage!  I haven’t had enough time to think about whether I want to do it and decide I’m too lazy.  I simply get on out of habit.  It’s “what I do”.  Personally I find that the later it gets in the day the less likely I am to exercise.  So it really works for me to get it done early.  Another perk, as you can see by my picture, is that I get to enjoy some truly glorious sunrises.  I have taken quite a few shots of them lately and this one is by far the best.  Tucked beneath the covers, with a pillow over his head, my husband misses out on these special moments.  Not that I kid myself into thinking that he cares!  He’d much rather take a look at my photograph.  Those are the two biggest perks that I find.  Related to those are the fact that I get so much done with my day.  Since it starts earlier I can fit a lot more in.  Sure you’re thinking I’m a Type A person.  Not true!  When you start your day at 5:30 there’s simply more time to get things done.  Which makes me feel good.  But, just to prove I am human, I will say this.  When that call comes from the school that it is a snow day – I go back to bed!

Walking in the Wild Wind

I went for a walk today with a friend of mine.  This winter I have to admit that I have been rather wimpy about walking when the temperatures plummet.  I’d prefer to exercise indoors and stay warm.  But today, with temps in the low 20′s and strong winds, I decided to go for it.  The sky was a magnificent clear blue as we walked the neighborhood streets.  We sometimes trek off through the woods, but the frozen snow deterred us from that.  Just as well.  We ran into another friend who had attempted the woods and found it tough going.  Some parts of the walk the wind was ferocious and I have the pink cheeks still to prove it.  However, at other times the wind took a rest and the sun was able to warm us as we strode along.  I’m so glad I braved the elements to share some time with my friend and her dog, Tucker.  He’s a sweetheart!  Have a great day and look for your bliss in the small moments.